Hellow from the SW Desert!

Hello everyone!

I've lurked on apug many times when I was learning about C-41 development. Thought it was about time to join.

I enjoy all things film, and generally shoot with an ME Super or MX and all kinds of Takumar lenses, as well as my Bronica ETRS. I got back into film after a couple ruined digital cameras while out climbing and canyoneering, and the difficulty of dealing with batteries while backpacking on longer trips. I feel in love with the natural colors I got, and found that Provia gave me exactly the colors I wanted if I was careful with filters vs. hours of fiddling with PS to get good colors with my digital captures. I jumped ship entirely on DSLR's a few months ago, trading my backup camera for a Bronica ETRS rig. Since switching, I've been doing plenty of my own developing and printing, FP4+, Delta 400, and Foma 100 being my staples. Printing B&W is a blast, and have upgraded from an old Omega B2 that I was borrowing from my family to a very portable Durst F30 that goes everywhere with me, as well as an almost brand new LPL 670 DXL that I got for basically pennies.

I'm about to jump ship entirely on a hybrid color workflow, too, and will either be shooting more slide film and finding a better lab for printing them, or learning the RA4 process myself (chemicals and paper are surprisingly very cheap in comparison to B&W materials!)

About the non-photography side of me... Well, I run a small engineering project management and consulting company, and move/travel all over. I enjoy rock climbing, canyoneering, mountain biking, backpacking.... just about everything outdoors. No matter what I'm doing, I usually have a camera and a few lenses with me. I work on the computer all day, and find it tedious, so I like to spend as much time as I can doing things active, and/or with my hands.

"He took to writing poetry and visiting the elves: and though many shook their heads and touched their foreheads and said 'Poor old Baggins!' and though few believed any of his tales, he remained very happy till the end of his days, and those were extraordinarily long "- JRR Tolkien, ' The Hobbit '.

MX's are the best! I really like ME Supers for use with M42 lenses, more so than the MX's. My second ME Super is starting to have some issues, so I'll be hunting for a second MX soon. Preferrably one in black.

I always thought that for serious 35mm, I would end up with a rangefinder of sorts. I only really use 35mm when I'm trying to be discrete or pack light. An MX and my Super Takumar 35mm, SMC 50mm, and Super Takumar 135mm are all tiny, light and discrete! Plus the sharpness is great, and the colors are fantastic. Red's just pop right out, which is a good thing here, around the red sandstone!

Can't complain about my MF rig either, as it's still about as compact as a 'pro' DSLR.